Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
AT&T says it is to blame for the SlingPlayer fiasco
Engadget and other publications tonight are quoting AT&T saying it knifed the SlingPlayer for iPhone due to concerns over bandwidth."Slingbox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network. The application does not run on our 3G wireless network. Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.
That said, we don't restrict users from going to a Web site that lets them view videos. But what our terms and conditions prohibit is the transferring, or slinging, of a TV signal to their personal computer or smartphone.
The Slingbox application for the iPhone runs on WiFi. That's good news for AT&T's iPhone 3G customers, who get free WiFi access at our 20,000 owned and operated hot spots in the U.S., including Starbucks, McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, hotels, and airports. AT&T is the industry leader in WiFi."
Well OK, AT&T. You do allow Slingplayer to run on other phones on your system. A couple of weeks ago you apologized for the language in the Terms of Service that got such bad publicity and implied it wasn't talking about the SlingPlayer.
It's clear the popularity of the iPhone combined with massive streaming is not going to help a cellular network that drops calls on the best of days. Apple is stuck with these guys, and so are we. iPhone owners who pay a healthy charge for 'unlimited' data are getting a crippled app on what is apparently a crippled network. Perhaps Apple will think about the fun they've had with AT&T the last couple of years and think about offering some choice to iPhone customers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Shawn said 9:35PM on 5-12-2009
Anyone surprised?
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TheMacDaddy said 10:28PM on 5-12-2009
I'm not surprised; I actually expected it. I guess part of me thought that there was a chance that AT&T would not act like total a-holes about restricting service to people who bought a media-driven smartphone, and pay handsomely every month to use it. My mistake.....I think I hear Sprint calling...
xboxbotox said 11:46AM on 5-13-2009
Not surprised at all. But we can do something about it.
1. Refuse to buy the app.
2. Hope that public outcry will reverse the decision.
3. Jailbreak your phone, install VoIPover3G, and add SlingPlayer to the apps that ignore the WiFi only requirement: http://www.appliedgadgetry.com/2009/05/slingplayer-for-iphone-on-3g/
Salty Skabz said 9:38PM on 5-12-2009
AT&T is the weak link in the iPhone chain, causing all kinds of issues concerning network usage. However we have all known this from the start. Sling has gone bonkers to think that the anyone should pay $30 for an app that breaks the original premise for the mobile player. The fact that it is wifi only, should have brought the price down. The majority of people are mad at AT&T right now, but it will shift to Sling pretty soon. Sling could have looked like the good guy by announcing a significantly lower price due to the major restriction of it's core services, mobile video streaming. Get it together Sling, that's Strike Two! Crowd source consumer outrage and use it to get leverage over these big companies, it works
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Rudy said 1:36AM on 5-13-2009
i totally agree the price should be at least half of what is now considering its functionality is only half assed.
Tritian said 11:10PM on 5-12-2009
Total crap
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Bob said 9:42PM on 5-12-2009
Sling needs to modify it's app so that it can stream the content that it makes available at this url:
http://beta.sling.com/network/list
I can watch just about everything ever produced on TV (I think it is partnering with hulu and others). Since the agreement doesn't preclude this form of streaming TV service, Sling ought enable this feature on it's iPhone app.
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Eli said 10:27PM on 5-12-2009
I totally agree!! c'mon sling media where are your brains?
russ_schroeder said 10:35PM on 5-12-2009
Except you actually can't watch any of this content on the iPhone either as it requires a Flash player, something else Apple has made unavailable.
Dogzilla said 10:21PM on 5-12-2009
OK, so AT&T wants to screw around? Here's a modest proposal:
What are we allowed? 4GB a month? I suggest we all use every last bit of bandwidth we can, right up to the limit. And all of us post it and ask every iPhone owner we know to do the same.
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b said 3:00AM on 5-13-2009
If you start a website I'll be the first to support you. I'd stream radio ALL DAY. Or YouTube, whichever is more data intensive.
Eric said 9:54PM on 5-12-2009
How can a cellular provider be the leader in Wi-Fi?
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Bob said 10:01PM on 5-12-2009
Have you ever been in a Starbucks and used the wifi connection?
Scott R said 12:06AM on 5-13-2009
The short and probably too simple summary: SBC bought PacBell, then BellSouth and Cingular, and the vestiges of AT&T that remained, and in the end re-cast itself (the whole self -- local, long distance, ISP, and wireless/"cell") as AT&T. WiFi is just an extension of the ISP business.
Having said that, though... indeed, have they actually tried to use the WiFi at a Starbuck's? It's fine for EDGE-compatible web sites, but let's not delude ourselves, here.
unteins said 12:16AM on 5-13-2009
The reality is that AT&T was broken up and the idiots that ran it were spread across all of the companies that were listed and then when they all got re-combined you basically had the same idiots running the show again.
What is idiotic is that Apple is letting AT&T dictate what apps will be available and how they will function when it know has dozens of partners across the globe.
jfleetwood said 9:54PM on 5-12-2009
Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO
rs2982@att.com (direct)
randall.stephenson@att.com
phone: 210-351-5401 (direct to his secretary)
fax 210-351-3553
alternate phone: 210-821-4105 (headquarters, press 3, ask for Mr. Stephenson's office)
175 E. Houston
San Antonio, TX 78205
let them know how you feel
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Joanna D said 9:56PM on 5-12-2009
The real problem with this announcement is nothing to do with whether people on AT&T can access it, it is the fact that Apple and Sling have bowed to the concerns of just one carrier.
Remember when iPhone 3G was introduced and we had a map of over 70 countries where the device is sold? Yeah, those countries don't use AT&Ts network, but they also don't have the option of getting 3G access to SlingPlayer either.
This is an OUTRAGE and it goes to show that Apple favours its American customers and suppliers far more than those elsewhere.
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Rollins said 10:21PM on 5-12-2009
Gasp, an American company favors an American carrier that also happens to be the carrier with the most iPhones sold.
Hawkman said 10:38PM on 5-12-2009
I can't see any carrier wanting this – can you imagine the bandwidth if it takes off? I know O2, the UK carrier, would laugh at you if you told them you thought they should allow this. I don't agree with them advertising "unlimited use" when there are strings attached, though.
Mobile Phone Diva said 7:52AM on 5-13-2009
She has a point Rollins. This "decision" cripples iPhone usage in other countries, which just shouldn't be allowed to happen. Why can AT&T's problems dictate what happens on OTHER networks that carry the iPhone? Why isn't there at the very least, a wifi AT&T version and a 3G version for the networks that can handle it. Overseas has better 3G.
Now whether the overseas networks would also demand it be crippled as Hawkman implies, I don't know.